My 8th YES show. We visited my father-in-law for the weekend and he babysat while my wife and I attended the concert. She was probably more familiar with songs from KANSAS due to radio. I had a lot of anticipation for "The Gates of Delirium" but the band had some trouble keeping it together. What really ticked me off was during the "Soon" section at the end some jerk a few rows away began shouting for "Roundabout" and I screamed "SHADDUP!!!!"

It is simply impossible for me to write about this concert without comparing it to the one in Charlotte, NC just days earlier.

In general, Charlotte was light, bright, energized, happy.

In Atlanta the band seemed disjointed, out of sorts, pensive...

Steve Howe was the exception as he was unusually animated.

Lakewood Amphitheatre is in the dead center of Atlanta's WORST Ghetto.

Sadly, just another piece of mismanagement in Yes' long history.

There is a perfect venue at the Gwinnet arena in North Atlanta that would be sublime for a Yes concert...

Just like Chastain Park in Atlanta's wealthy neighborhood, where the wine and cheese crowd flood the venue and talk throughout the show, and the neighborhood decibel limit is 75.... Yes just can't quite click, (or play the right place,) in Atlanta.

The sound was too loud and overly muddy this night at Lakewood. We had cotton stuffed in our ears and still could not hear for days afterwards...

Next to the "Return of Rick for the 4th time" tour, this was the best Yes tour I have seen since I started going back in '83. I was a fan starting around '81. The whole 90125 era was ok, and fun live, but this setlist was the one I had waited 15+ years to see. In fact, I really doubted they would ever play these epics again. But lo and behold, they finally did and it was stunning! Easily the tightest set I have seen from them. Gates and Ritual were sonic perfection. Close to the Edge got better as it went on. I think they take Seasons of Man at much too slow a tempo for it to be ferocious like the 70s versions (a big mistake), but once that section passes the rest was pretty sublime. Igor kicked some butt on this night and showed he was obviously genetically bred to be in the Yes keys chair, even if as nothing more than a glorified parrott. It was a pleasure to take my old friend Bart to this show, he hadn't seen them since they played the Omni back in '79 in the round. He was murdered a few months later in a robbery at the place we worked at. I am proud I encouraged him to go to this show as it was probably one of his last fond memories.

Written: 05/12/04
This venue was started by Kansas and soon a driving rain storm again for this loyal Yes fan and married man I ran just before the end of the Kansas set to get my wife and I some rain gear! And then it happened, I heard the intro to "Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra" while putting my wifes rain gear and then mine, my ears were filled with such heavy orchastrated symphonic, glorious moving music. Chris and Allan along with Jon were in a different "State of Mind" for sure. I thought I was on a trip to an amusement park I have only visited in my minds eye! My wife looked at me while the tears filled my eyes and with joy in my heart I responded "I haven't heard this piece of Yes work since my grade school years" She then asked me "Are you okay, why are you crying?" I said "These are tears of joy and peaceful memories, I was thinking about my cousin who died in a car crash-he took me to my first Yes concert" and then we stood with the rest of the crowd to show our appreciation for such an incredible beginning to a very magical evening of true mesmerizing, universal Yes Music that one day the entire world will see and hear as true ecstasy...anyhow we all had a great time and it was worth the time and money for sure! Igor Rocks!

Also in Atlanta, many folks our age brought their kids. During the show, Chris' tunic got bunched up underneath his guitar (this happened in Nashville too) and he turned once giving the audience a good view of his "tights" and a little girl a couple of rows back said, "Look Daddy, he's nearly naked (nekkid) under that top." Ahhh, the joys of Spandex!

In Atlanta, when Jon started reciting the Starship Trooper lyrics a girl behind me started saying...."oh no, oh no...do you think they'll play it? Why is he speaking it, instead of singing it..Ohmigod!Ohmigod, I never knew they were playing this."

Then the music started and the poor girl was put out of her misery. I turned around and saw a look of complete bliss on her face.

Atlanta rocked and the audience stayed on its feet most of the night. I had great seats in the center section thanks to Yesfriend Rog. :-)

I noticed a lot of folks my age brought their kids, and I even saw some fans in their 60's really enjoying the show.

Great crowd and one of best Yesshows ever for me.

I think this is the Yes show I've been waiting for. It was really great. Chris was a ham, but he really added a lot of energy as did Egor. He is fine on the key's and an excellent percussionist. It was a true work of art, for art sake no top forty crap or album selling tour. I even like roundabout for the ending, I can't believe it was ever plaid on the radio-it's so radical musically and lyrically. Don't miss this tour, If I can swing it I'll try to go again!

Steve Howe was the most energized, most active, most fun-loving that we've ever seen him! He had a blast, and so did we, 'til Kendra, the four-year-old Yes-Master had had enough of the lightning and heat, and requested our immediate withdrawl in the midst of Ritual. Moondance Jam deja vu! Hoping for better luck in Cincy.

Jon Anderson:
Woo! Alright thank you. Speak to me of summer, long winters longer than time can remember, the setting up of other roads to travel on in old accustomed ways. I still remember, the talks by the water, the proud sons and daughters, that knew the knowledge of the band, and spoke to me, in sweet accustomed ways. Woo!

Jon Anderson:
Thank you you so much thank you. It's great to be with you once again here in Atlanta Georgia. Thank you for coming out on such a crazy night. Thank you. Thunder, lightening, very very frightening. Yeah. But not as frightening as this next song. We're going to do some songs that we haven't played for 25 years, 26 years. We're going to start with a song called 'Gates Of Delirium'.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much thank. Two, two quite amazing things. The first one that we want to play this music again after 25 years and the most amazing thing is that you want to listening to it. That is the most wonderful thing. So, from the bottom of our hearts thank you very much for wanting to hear that music yet again. Soon oh soon the light. Soon oh soon the light. Woo! I remember when I wrote that song, I wasn't sure there about the light, I really wasn't. I believed there was light but I wasn't sure. A few years later I became very sure. There's light in every one of use. Very bright and very powerful. We have infinite power. Woo! And so does this guy on guitar, Mr. Steve Howe.

Jon Anderson:
There's a time sorta..uh way back..uh when we started recording for the first time. I used to get this sorta strange..uh bizarre sorta feeling when I heard the music being played back..uh in the mixing room and..uh I used to say to myself it's got a very sharp feeling and a very distance feeling. So I got together with my good friend Mr. Chris Squire on bass guitar. We started writing a song that came out that..uh was looking for a title and started thinking about that sorta power feeling, very spirit and energy and called it 'Heart Of The Sunrise'.

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much, thank you. Thank you so much. Woo! When we decided to this..uh tour going back sorta 26, 25, 26 years. Start playing music again that we haven't played for such a long time. It's kinda amazing the idea of playing it and..uh we just had to delve into 'Tales From Topographic Oceans'. Very, very tentatively we got into this next piece of music then I realized that almost every night all around the world, thousands and thousands of people get together to have fun and enjoy life and we call it a ritual. And most of us know that the earth, the spirit earth listens to humans having a good time and really gets off on the idea that music can be good for you so we thought about doing this song. So here we go with 'Ritual' from 'Tales From Topographic Oceans'.

Jon Anderson:
Let's hear it for Mr. Alan White on drums. On keyboards Mr. Igor Khorochev. Thank you so much thank you. Thank you. Here's a little dedication to Alan's wonderful beautiful wife Gigi who came here to see us play. Here's some chords that..uh I showed to my son Damion just before the tour and he said..uh 'Did you write a song'. I said..

Jon Anderson:
Thank you so much everyone. Thank you so much for coming out this evening. It's been great seeing you, here in the year 2000. Who'd believe that?